Improvement in ambulances



J. HAYWARD,

Ambulance.

No. 47,719. Patented May 16. 1865.

Witnesses= Inventor:

lJNirED STATES PATENT Prion.

JOHN M. HAYWARD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN AMBULANCES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 47,719, dated May 16, 1865.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN M. HAYWARD, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ambulances, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l is a view of my improved ambulance, showing a stretcher secured to one side of a saddle and a similar stretcher converted into a chair attached to the opposite side of the saddle. Fig. 2 is a view of one of the sockets which receive the legs of the stretcher or chair, and by means of which it is secured to the saddle. Fig. 3 is a view of one of the wedge-shaped legs of the stretcher.

In the ordinary operation of removing the sick and wounded from the field to the hospital it has been customary to place the invalid on a litter and convey him by hand to the ambulance or saddle where he was again removed to another stretcher or chair attached thereto. This change of conveyance was objectionable on account of occupying much valuable time, and the operation was laborious, besides being the cause of unnecessary pain to the invalid. The nature of the ground also frequently prevents the ordinary ambulance from approaching sufficiently near the field, and its large size renders it a prominent object for the fire of the enemy. In some cases a stretcher has been secured to a saddle by means of straps,but this method was inconvenient, as it occupied considerable time.

To overcome these difficulties is the object of my invention, which consists in providing the saddle with inverted pyramidal or wedgeshaped sockets, which receive the corresponding wedge-shaped legs of a stretcher or chair, said legs extending downward through the sockets so as to bear firmly against the side of the saddle,and the sockets being split or provided with an opening to allow of the passage of the braces, which extend under the body of the stretcher for the purpose of giving it additional strength, by which means I am enabled to provide a ready and convenient means of removing the wounded without causing unnecessary pain.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A represents the back of a horse or mule; B, the saddle, to each side of which are secured two sockets, a, (of the form shown in Fig. 2,) which receive the legs b of the stretcher C. These sockets are made wedge-shaped, or in the form of an inverted pyramid, as seen in Fig. 2, to correspond to the form of the legs I), and are split or provided with an opening, 0, to allow of the passage of the cross-braces d, which extend under the stretcher for the purpose of giving it additional strength. The legs b extend down through the sockets and bear firmly against the side of the saddle, for the purpose of holding the stretcher more steadily in place.

The stretchers 0 (there being one oueach side of the saddle) are hinged at e and f, so that they can readily be converted into chairs, as will now be described. 9 are slotted braces, which pass through straps h on the main body of stretcher, and through straps t on the portion D, and thus hold the two portions 0 and D rigidly in a horizontal position. The, portion E is also held rigidly in a similar position by means of the bolts 70.

When the stretcher is to be converted into a chair, the braces g are drawn back out of the straps h i and hooked onto the buttons l on the portion D, which is raised, and thus forms the back of the chair. The opposite ends of the braces being secured to the middle portion of the stretcher by means of the screws m, and the bolts 70 being withdrawn, the portion E is depressed so as to form a rest or foot-board for the legs of the invalid.

It will be seen that the above-described ambulance isof simple construction, and can be brought to any required point without regard to the nature of the ground, and the stretchers removed for the purpose of collecting the wounded, after which they can be instantly attached to the saddle by .means of the wedge shaped legs and sockets, as explained, thus entirely avoiding the necessity of removing' thewounded man from the stretcher to meansof the wedge-shaped legs 12 and co the ambulance, and causing him no unnecesresponding sockets, a, substantially as set sary pain.

The stretchers C can also be used as ordinary litters, if required. hat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Attaching the stretcher O to the saddle by forth.

J. MoL. HAYWARD.

Witnesses:

P. E. TESGHEMACHER, N. W. STEARNS. 

